21 women sought in sex probe

U.S. investigators seek information about Secret Service contact at clubs

New York Times

Published 10:57 pm, Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Photo: Alex Brandon

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FILE - In this March 10, 2011 file photo, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At least 20 women were involved in last weekend's hotel incident with Secret Service agents, U.S. Marines and prostitutes in Colombia just before President Barack Obama's visit, a senator says. Congressional and military investigators begin to dig into the situation more deeply. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) less

FILE - In this March 10, 2011 file photo, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At least 20 women were involved in last weekend's hotel ... more

Photo: Alex Brandon

21 women sought in sex probe

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CARTAGENA, Colombia — At the Ligueros Club, one of many busy bordellos in this seaside tourist city, prostitutes dressed in lingerie wait for a bell to ring, signaling the arrival of men on the prowl. But the next group of U.S. visitors to walk in the door may not be customers at all.

U.S. investigators seeking to get to the bottom of the reported late-night activities of a group of Secret Service agents and military personnel assigned to President Barack Obama's recent visit to Colombia have begun searching for as many as 21 women who are believed to include prostitutes and to have spent the night with the security officers, U.S. security officials say.

After uncovering evidence of misconduct, investigators for the Secret Service are seeking to interview women who are said to have accompanied 11 agents — including snipers and explosives experts — to their hotel rooms after a night of heavy drinking, said Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The agency knows their identities because the hotel where they stayed had a policy requiring women to leaving copies of their identification cards before going into rooms, said King, who was briefed on the investigation Tuesday morning by Mark Sullivan, the Secret Service director.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, who was also briefed on the investigation, said 20 to 21 local women were brought into the sprawling beachfront complex called the Hotel Caribe. She said some of the women accompanied Secret Service agents and others escorted members of the military, which is conducting its own investigation.

The enlisted personnel under scrutiny include two Marine dog handlers; at least one member of the Army Green Berets from the 7th Special Forces Group, which focuses on South America; and Air Force and Navy personnel who specialize in the disposal of explosives.

The investigations have cast a light on Cartagena's free-wheeling nightlife, where prostitutes walk the street and work in the bars and an array of private clubs, where they sometimes live and in some cases charge $300 or more to go out with customers. Exactly where the U.S. security personnel met the women they reportedly took back to their rooms was still under investigation, the U.S. officials said, with more than one establishment under review.

"The 11 agents are having different recollections about what happened, or are not telling the truth," King said.

The number of military personnel under scrutiny in the case, which the Pentagon initially numbered at five, is between 10 and 12, the officials said. At least one member of the military has been questioned and cleared of wrongdoing, the officials said. It was not believed that the Secret Service agents and the military personnel went out in one large party, officials said, indicating that there may have been two or more groups of Americans who went out that night.

At the Ligueros Club, when new customers arrive, a bell rings on a back patio where women go to relax, prompting them to jump to their high-heeled feet and go back to work. At Pleyclub, another bordello popular among Americans and rumored to have hosted a group of U.S. security personnel recently, a $40 bottle of Old Parr Scotch whisky costs $160 and the women, who pole-dance naked on a stage to the rapid-fire beat of reggaeton, can charge double that.

"A lot of Americans come here," said Carlos Ramirez, a manager at Pleyclub.